The gap between what Californians earned and what they need to buy a median-priced home in the fourth quarter of 2004 increased by 41.6 percent from one year earlier, according to a new report from the California Association of Realtors.

The median California household income of $53,240 in the fourth quarter was $56,070 short of the $109,320 qualifying income needed to purchase the median-priced home at $470,920, according to CAR’s Homebuyer Income Gap Index report.

One year earlier, the gap between median and qualifying incomes stood at $39,610. Then, the median household income was $51,860 and qualifying income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $390,250 was $91,460.

In Southern California, the income gap was $55,050, using a median household income of $51,780 in the fourth quarter, a median home price of $460,210 and qualifying income of $106,830. The gap was $55,830 in the third quarter of 2004.

Potential homebuyers in the Central Valley had the smallest income gap at $28,730 in the fourth quarter, while those in the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest in the state at $84,690.